Crimes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crimes - Research Paper Example In the book, Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris, the reader is able to find out more about the background of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and why he kills and eats his victims. When Dr. Lecter was a small boy, he lived in Germany during the time that the Nazis took over the country in what they called their eastern campaign (Harris 21). He was from a very wealthy family. Eventually his parents were killed by Nazis who came to their farm to loot it. They killed all the adults in the house but saved the children (Harris 37). Eventually, due to many circumstances in Hannibals life, he had a psychological break. This break occurred primarily after Hannibals sister Mischa was taken "out to play" (Harris 60) by the looters and was killed and eaten instead; Hannibal found her baby teeth in a stool pot later that confirmed this event (Harris Hannibal 86). It is at this point that Hannibal divorces himself from his emotions and sees the world as very different. In the beginning, Hannibal kills for revenge and finds the men who killed his sister. By the time the viewer sees him in Silence of the Lambs, he is killing for sport. In most cases, Hannibal kills people who are disrespectful to him or those who annoy him. As Clarice Starling states in Hannibal, "its whimsy" (310) for Hannibal to kill. His only kills men. Dr. Lecter could be classified as a sociopath because he goes totally against societys rules. He is highly intelligent, very calculating and methodical, and knows how to psychologically control his victims. At some point, he becomes known as "Hannibal the Cannibal" Because he eats his victims or eats parts of them. He also tortures his victims before he kills them because it is fun for him to see how people react to his psychological way of playing with them. Dr. Lecter gives insight into James Gumb by stating that he "covets what he cant have" (Harris Silence ). Laura Sydell, a writer for National